Wouldn't a title just make it worse?

Ugo Eze, 23, a student at Queens College, was headed to Manhattan
and was about to walk right past the candidate until Mr. Liu pulled him
aside to shake his hand.

"You know the handshake!" Mr. Eze exclaimed, surprised that Mr. Liu,
a "man in a suit," knew the shake used by those in the "inner-city
streets." Mr. Eze added: "John Liu knows the handshake that the people
around my way know. That gives him some credibility."